Lahore enters New Year amid revellers’ aerial firing, parties

LAHORE: Thousands of revellers thronged the roads and streets across the provincial metropolis to usher in the New Year.

Almost all areas in the city echoed with gunshots as the clock struck 12 am. Areas where aerial firing was observed include DHA, Johar Town, Wapda Town, Sattukatla, Ghaziabad, Shadbagh, Mozang, Iqbal Town, Sabzazar, Faisal Town, Green Town, Mughalpura, Baghbanpura, Shalimar, Harbanspura, Racecourse, Garhi Shahu, Gawalmandi, Naulakha, Qila Gujjar Singh, Misri Shah, Shahdara, Ravi Road, Naulakha, Samanabad, Lytton Road, Sanda, Ichhra, Factory Area, Kot Lakhpat, Sherakot, Shafiqabad, Gujjarpura and Islampura.

Jubilant citizens had the New Year eve parties at their homes, farmhouses, hotels, guest houses and open places allowed by the administration.

Citizens, mostly youngsters, thronged the streets and roundabouts, dancing to the tunes of songs.

‘Bhangra’ and ‘dhamal’ dances with aerial firing were a common sight in various parts of the city. Traffic came to a standstill as some people even started dancing on the roads by parking their vehicles on the roadsides. Fireworks were carried out in various parts of the city.

Dancing girls and liquor were arranged at guest houses, hotels and private places including farmhouses where affluent people were facilitated. The revellers started honking and let off fireworks as the clock struck 12 am.

Over 6,000 police officers and officials including all divisional SPs, 35 SDPOs, 83 SHOs, additional contingents of Dolphin Squads, Police Response Unit and Elite Force performed duty on New Year’s night.

As many as 260 Dolphin teams and 65 vehicles of PRU were deputed on patrolling 216 different points of the city.

However, the Lahore police plan to bridle the violators of one-wheeling and aerial firing failed as both the violations were observed in every nook and corner of the city.

The revellers overlooked police warnings and took the law into their hands by resorting to aerial firing and performing one-wheeling stunts on their motorcycles.

Dolphin Squads along with Police Response Units patrolled around all the important roads, shopping areas, parks and recreational places of the city to monitor any suspicious activity.

Additional contingents of police were deployed at important roads and main recreational points of the city where majority of people gathered on New Year’s night.